(continued from above)
This year, when it was time to set the quota
for 2010, the black sea bass quota was set by the SSC before the Monitoring
Committee of the MAMFC and ASMFC met. The SSC decided to go with status quo even
though the latest approved stock assessment showed that the stocks were no
longer being over fished. The Monitoring Committee met after the SSC and
realized that the quota they set for 2009 was based on the condition that black
sea bass was overfished and overfishing was taking place. With this new
information, the Monitoring Committee recommended an increase in the quota. At
the joint meeting, we questioned the SSC about whether or not they had
considered the same new information discussed by the Monitoring Committee when
they set the quota at status quo. The response was that they had not. I made a
motion asking the Monitoring Committee and SSC to hold a conference call to
discuss this issue and see if there was a possibility of increasing the quota
based on the available information. After a long discussion, the MAMFC voted a
10/10 tie so the motion did not move forward. The excuse given by the Council
Chairman and Vice Chairman was that this would set a bad precedent. What it
showed me was the callousness of these individuals relative to the needs of the
recreational and commercial fishing industries? This is a new process and
mistakes will be made. Until we resolve the procedural matters, there should be
no problem revisiting decisions in the best interest of all concerned. For 10
council members, it wasnt important to make sure all information and
recommendations were considered before final decisions were
made.
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